Unit 32 - AS1 - Task 2

Understanding the limitations of the television ident

A television ident will have to include themes from the previous TV idents that are already on the channel. Each of these themes may have limitations to them however some of them may include some advantages.

Typography

Things to consider when focusing on typography are; font, size, boldness, logo and shape. Typically each ident on a television channel must follow a similar typography, however every TV channel has a different typography. For example the typography that the BBC use are not going to be the same as what a channel such as E4 may use, as each channel attracts a different type of viewer. A limitation to keeping with the same typography as all the other idents on the channel is that they may seem all the same and theres less freedom to be creative when making them. Some designers may find this frustrating. However a good point to using the same typography in all the idents is that it retains the overall theme and feel of the channel which will engage the viewer more.

Colour

The colour of the idents are important when creating one because each channel will have a certain colour associated with it due to their idents. For example, the BBC will not use the colour purple as that is the colour that is associated with E4. As well as E4 will not use the colours black and white as this is what is associated with the BBC. Like typography this can be limiting as you can only use a certain channel depending on the channel so it may get in the way of creativity, however this can be good as it forces the ident to follow the same theme as the idents before it, so it follows the theme of the channel.

Aspect Ratio

All idents must fit into the aspect ratio of the television screen, so all idents that are on TV must be in the ratio of 16:9. If it is not in this ratio then it may be too big for the screen so the edges may be cut out, if it is too small then it will be surrounded by a black box to fill in the gaps. This may limiting as you may not be able to fit some things in as they may be too large, a good point may be that it is easier considering else is in this ratio.

Adhering to a desired tone

keeping to a desired tone is taken into consideration so it keeps the attention of the desired audience. If you show an ident that they may show on 'cbeebies' on BBC 1, then the audience may be confused as it does not relate to the type of programmes shown on the channel and may result in the audience to switch over the cannel. A limitation to keeping with a desired tone is that it may be boring after a while and audiences may get bored and switch the channel over, however this is also a good thing as keeping with a desired tone may keep an audiences attention as they may be in the mood for that tone because they tuned into the channel.

Duration 

The duration of an ident may be actually longer than what they actually show on TV. This is because just in case they may have more time to fill, so they will play the ident for longer, a good example of this is a BBC 1 ident;
This is the longer version of the ident:

This is the shorter version:

A limitation to this is it may cut out some shots that are important to keep up the feel of the ident so may ruin the feel of the ident. However a good thing about it is that the channel can choose how long the ident goes in for.